By Jake Schuster
SteelerNation.com
The Pittsburgh Steelers went 2-4 in their first six weeks of the season with losses to the New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers, and Baltimore Ravens. Excluding the Patriots loss, the Steelers lost the other three games by a combined nine points. Yes, arguments can be made about what their record might be if franchise quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger was under center. With Big Ben suffering an elbow injury in week 2 however, the Steelers turned to young quarterback, Mason Rudolph to lead the team. Rudolph has passed for 646 yards, 7 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. Not bad for his first couple of starts and being thrown into the fire. Another huge aspect of the first half of the Steelers season was the acquisition of star safety, Minkah Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick made a first huge impression in his first game with an interception and a forced fumble. Anyway, let’s get on with the rest of the season.
What to Watch For
The first item that sticks out to me is how Rudolph will play the rest of the year. Obviously, it can go one of two ways for the Steelers: towards the playoffs, or further away. The Steelers have 10 games remaining. Of those ten games remaining, five of them are against teams that currently have losing records. We can only wait to see what every week Rudolph will bring to the table and how much he will keep progressing each week.
The second item that sticks out to me is how will the Steelers defense respond in losing a great defensive lineman in Stephon Tuitt. Tuitt was having an All-Pro caliber type season. A few of his stats include 3.5 sacks, 22 tackles, and 6 tackles for a loss. With that being said, the Steelers defense is tied for 2nd in takeaways per game with 2.5. Not to mention they have one of the best, if not the best rookie defender in Devin Bush. The Steelers defense has been up and coming and is this the year they can lead the team to a chance at the playoffs come the end of the year?
The third item to look out for is how will WR1, JuJu Smith-Schuster play the rest of the season. The Steelers star receiver has been held to 340 yards in 6 games, leaving him at an average of 56.7 yards per game. Going along with receiving yards, he has been held to less than 20 yards in 2 of 6 games this season. Smith-Schuster also has only snagged 2 touchdowns this year so far. The Steelers, and all of their fans, need JuJu big time. We, Steeler Nation, do not want to remember JuJu from 2019 regular season as the guy whose fumble possibly changed the whole year. The past is the past, and we all know JuJu can be that true WR1 everyone sees in him.
Feel free to leave a comment and let us know how you think the rest of the 2019 Pittsburgh Steelers season is going to go!
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